Bloomberg Defends NYPD Officers in Empire State Building Shooting

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks to media at a press conference near the scene of the shooting.

By Michael Howard Saul and Tamer El-Ghobashy

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended on Tuesday the actions of the two police officers involved in last week’s shooting near the Empire State Building, saying they acted “more than appropriately.”

Nine bystanders were wounded by police gunfire on Friday when two officers fatally shot Jeffrey Johnson, a disgruntled former apparel designer who shot and killed a former co-worker just moments before the police confronted him. Two of the injured remain hospitalized.

“Let me ask you this, Miss, ‘Somebody pointed a gun at you, and you had a gun in your pocket, what would you do?” said Bloomberg in response to a reporter’s question about the police officers’ actions.

When the reporter didn’t respond, the mayor said, “I think that answers the question.”

“The police commissioner’s looked at it. They acted more than appropriately,” Bloomberg added. “I’ve seen the film. The guy turned, pointed his gun at the two police officers – and you can really ask that question after that?”

“Fortunately, nobody was hurt seriously, and just sometimes things happen,” the mayor said.

The two people still in the hospital are Chenin Duclos, a 31-year-old from North Carolina, and Robert Mequaye, a 35-year-old from the Bronx, according to law enforcement officials. Both were shot in the leg.

Duclos is expected to be released in five days, and Mequaye is expected to be released in three to five weeks.

On Friday morning shortly after 9 a.m., Johnson, the gunman, brandished his weapon when officers confronted him on Fifth Avenue, just moments after he shot and killed his former co-worker, Steven Ercolino . Johnson did not fire his weapon at police, but the officers fired more than 16 rounds, hitting him at least seven times, according to police officials.

The police confirmed on Saturday that all nine of the passersby were injured by police bullets.